PEARLAND:On April 15, leading musician Sikkil Gurucharan and his accompanying artists treated music lovers to a wonderful performance at the Sri Meenakshi Temple, Pearland. The concert was organized by Bharathi Kalai Manram, Houston as a fundraiser event for Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai. It was a tribute to Kanchi Shankaracharya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi who passed away recently and was instrumental in Sankara Nethralaya being established by Dr. S. S. Badrinath in 1978, now a premier Ophthalmology hospital in Chennai, India.

One of the young performing musicians of Carnatic music today, Sikkil made good use of his vocal prowess and raga aesthetics to render soulful kritis and sangatis accompanied by Sanjeev Kumar (violin) and R. Shankaranarayanan (Mridangam). His song choices were impressive for Houston music lovers. He started with a varnam by Sri Papanasam Sivan followed by several Tamil songs including Bharathiyar’s ‘Veenaiyadi Nee Ennakku’ and Yaro Ivar Yaro – a powerful theme song describing the importance of eyes. The concert was very well received by Houston Carnatic music lovers. A complimentary delicious dinner was provided by Rajan Radhakrishnan of Madras Pavillion. It was indeed a blissful evening enjoyed by BKM members and guests.

About Sankara Nethralaya:

Sankara Nethralaya ‘a major hospitals are located in Chennai, Kolkata, Thirupathi, and Sri City with plans underway for Thane ( Maharashtra) and Surat (Gujarat). MESU the mobile eye surgical unit an “operation theatre on wheels “consists of 2 vans one equipped to screen patients and the other to perform surgeries. Eyeglasses are also prepared on site and distributed. More than 10,000 surgeries have been performed.

Sankara Nethralaya OM Trust a 501 C3 organization is the brainchild of SV Acharya and formed in 1987 to raise funds in North America for Sankara Nethralaya, Chennai. More than 10,000 surgeries have been performed in a year with the funds raised . The trust has chapters in Washington D C, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.